The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1887-07-06
4 GRIZZLED STRANGER.
HE TELLS HOW HE MADE 4 MILF i
MINUTE On HORSEBACK.

HE TELLS HOW II r -h+Ai'i- - -hi-'1 :
MINUTE On HORSEBACK.
His Race Over the Devils Track--Why II
Felt Inclined to Make Such Good Time.
From the New York SUM-
GIVE made mile minute on horse
back, in the saddle"
rs grizzled stranger with a quartzlt'
pin made this remark, a silence fell upo1
Tie little group OF trlrf,nen who sat II
the corridor Of the Windsor Hotel, a
Denver, the other evening. The MAI
who had Just tod OF driving an urrc
corded mile in 2:l1 arose deliberately:
brushed the ashes of his cigar, buttoned
his overcoat, and walked away. 81 an
a liar, myself" somebody began.
ssHold on, said the stranger, 'this
isn't lie. It's cold, clammy truth, and
I'll back it with money
Have you the papers for it,"
ssNo, nor tie judges afidavits. In
fact, nobody saw it except myself, but il
you will permit me to tell you the cir,
cumstances, III leave it to yourself
whether it isn't fact. y
s:Blaze away.
The group drew closer. Even the man
who had walked off suspended MS con,
rersation with the hotel clerk and lis
tened on tie quiet. The grizzled stran-
er removed g. section OF tobacco from his
mouth and began:
s:This happened five years ago last
fall. I was living in Leadville at the
time, but had mining interests that took
me frequently into the outlying districts
for radius OF perhaps a dozen miles.
These trips | nearly always made on
horseback, on tough little broncho,
hard mouthea, trained to mountain
roads, and capable Of keeping up a jog
trot at pinch for twenty hours on a
stretch. On the occasion in question l
started very early enc clear, cold morn
ing for claim I owned on the other
side Of the divide, on the slope of what
is called Gold Mountain-you can fnd it
by looking OF any map. 70 reach it I
had to first cross Tennessee park and
then wind over very crooked, tortuous
trail that gradually assembled 70 a pass
somewhere above Timber Pine. It was
not more than two miles as the crow
flies, but nine by the road, owing to the
frequent zigzagging or tacking made
necessary by the steepness of the range.
s'I took things easy, and it was about
noon when reached the claim. l had
couple OF men at work there, ate din
ner at their cabin, and then went over
to look at the Shalt. One has no idea
how rapidly time passes underground,
where everything is dark, and when l
came up [ was surprised to find that it
was nearly o'clock, and the shadows OF
pimons a hundred yards off had crawled
up to the windlass. I was annoyed, too,
for there was suggestion Of snow IN the
air, and the ride across Tennessee park
in q storm-well, the less said about it
the better. So I lost no time III getting
into the saddle, and pushed rapidly
ahead toward the pass. l had to go
cutie little distance before [ reached
it, and all the time the sky grew graver,
and presently few fakes began to fall.
1 urged the broncho, and finally began
the descent.
ssThe road beyond the pass led down
long, straight incline for about quar-
ter OF nile. This took it to the frlnges
of timber pine, and then it made a de-
tour of nearly two miles to get around a
spur Of the range. At that point |
paused. The idea occurred to me that l
could make short cut by going directly
over the spur and striking the trail On
the other side. The range was not par
ticularly steep at this place, but rather
succession Of rough eminences, and the
undertaking did not seem to be accom-
panied by danger. A sudden raw wind
decided me. I turned the broncho off
the road and started.
'sThe plan appeared the more feasl-
BILE as l advanced. What looked like
steep ascents at a distance proved to be
gentle ones, and was soon pretty near,
" across. The spur was well wooded
with old pine trees, some Of which had
rotted as they lay, and on the far side
the declivity extended down at an even
slope clear to the valley, where big rocks
and boulders looked like grains OF blast
ing powder, and the road ike tiny
streak. I remember yet how, between
the tree tops, l caught q glimpse OF the
park with the Arkansas river winding
through it, and the whole thing looking
like some map in my old geography.
That was the last thing that impressed
itself on my mind before my horse stag
gered, stumbled, plunged little, and
then came down with crash, hrst on
his fore legs and then fat on his belly,
his head down hill. | can't readily de-
scribe it, but he fell in such a way that
my right leg, without being crushed or
even much bruised, was twisted IN the
stirrup strap and caught fast.
"Riglt here let me stop to explain
circumstance that will enable you to un-
derstana the situation. Down IN the
valley, at the base OF Gold Mountain,
was sawmill owned by George Lacy,
Of Leadville, and extending up from It's
yard, almost to timber line, was what IS
called log shoot. This is simply a
V-shaped trough, large enough to hold
8 good-sized pine trunk, and built solid
ly against the face of the mountain. OF
course it has to be straight, or nearly SO
10 permit the logs to slide down without
obstruction, and use soon makes the
inside as smooth as glass. Such a con-
triyarce saves great deal OF hauling,
Tor as the trees are cut, they are dragged
over and dumped into the trough, and